History Headscratchers / TheMummyTrilogy

* How the hell does the pharaoh's wife scratch an itch or go to the bathroom? And what about sitting or eating? I mean, the smeared paint could mean she just got itchy or something dammit!

[[AC:Fridge Logic]]

* When the scarabs are poured over Imhotep, they appear to begin devouring him gradually, a fact which Evelyn later confirms, stating that the beetles devoured a corpse "very slowly." However, whenever the scarabs devour anyone else later on in the film, they do so almost instantaneously.
** At that point they're not just bugs anymore, they're one of the horrible curses that Imhotep is causing with his existence.
** Also, you have to assume that they've got to chew through his many layers of bandages first...
** When they're eating a corpse, the killer scarabs are free to take their time. When they're ''making'' one, they don't bother to swallow, just chew the person up as fast as possible so their prey won't escape.
** Also, Imhotep's scarabs could have been fed beforehand thus making them free to take their time, with the rest of them being hungry for fresh meat. Or maybe a different, more aggressive breed, possibly motivated by Imhotep's curse.
* Was Anck Su Namun cursed for killing the Pharaoh? In the original script says that the two mummies full resurrected (Imhotep and herself) would become the end of all things. The novelization give us more information about this?
** In the film itself nothing suggests that Anck Su Namun was magically cursed. The script and novelisation do promote the idea of her being damned post-mortem, with Imhotep being forced to do the deed to prevent Medjai's suspicions (he had the knowledge to undo the spells though).
* It's outright stated several times in the first movie that the [[CursedWithAwesome curse]] used on Imhotep grants the victim invincibility and lots of cool undead superpowers should they ever be dug up. Given this, ''why did they bother using it on him?'' Granted, that was apparently the only time they used it, and he does suffer the whole "eternally chewed on by flesh eating beetles" thing not to mention how big the ancient Egyptians were on the afterlife but still.

** Also being immortal means you cannot proceed to the afterlife...something the Ancient Egyptians were very big on.

** Presumably it's some sort of trade-off with the gods - the victim gets cursed to suffer an eternity of pain and torment, with no possibility of passing into the afterlife, but to prevent its over-use, the downside is that if they're ever brought back to life, they get all these destructive powers.
** Thought it was an emotional punishment, that Imhotep would be immortal, but parted from Anck-us-namun forever, since her soul had departed to the afterlife. Anyways, look at where the scarabs landed first... [[GroinAttack his crotch]].
** The Hom-Dai curse, although understood as highly dangerous and horrific, is under/overestimated by the fandom. Firstly, Imhotep was forced to remain alive, and conscious, in unimaginable pain even as his body was reduced to a "juicy" carcass. Secondly, he also had to undergo some nasty mental torture; no external stimulations and constant remainders of his past failures (failed resurrection, loyal servants gruesomely executed, betrayal of his gods...). Thirdly, he had to endure scarabs moving inside his body while eating it (remember what just one scarab did to the warden), in complete darkness of his small coffin, all while enduring starvation, thirst and increasing lack of breathable air. It's a miracle that Imhotep somehow retained his mental faculties. On the other hand, he evidently could not free himself at all despite his powers, since even with his coffin opened he had to wait until Evy read from the Black Book. Afterwards, he got very lucky to both shamble across the only sacrifice that was too blind to run away from him in time and meet the only guy who could understand him and guide him to his victims. Yes, his prison failed the test of time, after some measly 3000 years or so, but in the end all that was needed to stop him was the Golden Book. If Medjai didn't forget its location (and knew how to read its spells) Imhotep's rampage would have been fairly short. Go to Homunaptra, bring cats and measures against the scarabs, take the book then read from it. Same goes for the Ancient Egypt's period.
* Didn't the guy Imhotep took his new eyes from wear glasses, because he had ''really bad' eyesight?
** WordOfGod (the DVD commentary) states that Imhotep took Burns' eyes literally. His resulting imperfect eyesight is what makes him initially believe that Evy is Anck-su-namun.
*** It obviously gets better as he regenerates fully, since the next time they meet he seems to be able to tell she's someone else.
*** It's also kinda funny, since the entire second half of the movie with Imhotep chasing Evy is because of one guy's myopia.
*** Not only that, but it affects his aim as well, hence why his "sand wall" trick doesn't kill the heroes.
*** That's more Evy distracting his spell with a kiss, he's fully regenerated by that point.

*** She's not the queen, she's the Pharaoh's mistress. He turned her into his living sex toy.
*** She was to be his wife and protector, according to The Mummy Returns. She may not have been considered his equal but still was a woman of high status, thus deserving handmaidens and such. As athletic as she was shown she probably would not have had that many problems with the ink in her everyday life. Anyway, by itself the smudge could have been excused, but there were also Imhotep's priests there and Ankh-Su-Namun offered nothing in her defence. Given that Nefertiri seemingly suspected the affair, it is not outside the realm of possibility that Seti saw some signs as well, hence the accusation.

*** Also, they managed to find The Book of Amun Ra, which was accidentally pitched into a pit of black slime in the previous film.
*** Actually it was the gold book that fell into the slime in the first film. Imhotep ended up with the Book of the Dead and tried to use it to resurrect Anuck-su-namun. That was just buried under the rubble when the tomb collapsed.

*** They probably acknowledge that the Egyptian gods are powerful spirits or beings but do not worship them, possibly not even ascribing actual divinity to them. It's not that difficult of a concept, really.
*** Islamic doctrine contains three sapient species that are creations of Allah - humans, angels and jinn. I'd assume the Egyptian gods fall into the latter category: powerful spirits capable of miraculous feats/magic, but ultimately subservient to the one true God.

** The word 'Allah' literally translates into 'God'. Several cultures even utilize the name to refer to their own deities, outside of the Islamic religion. Bornean and Indonesian Christians are an example of this, as the word was appropriated from common usage within the Malay and Indonesian languages.
* How did Imhotep get encased in Amber. Yeah, he was sinking into a slimy pit, but I don't recall the pit being golden.
** It's not amber. It's solidified sand and water--basically like a crude cement.

*** OP here, and you're right. Upon rewatching many times (mostly because I like the movie), it never occurred to me to recall the floor until your suggestion.

* Moreover, if the Medjai know that Imhotep needs to drain the American tomb-breakers of their life force and steal their organs in order to regenerate himself, why didn't they just ''kill Burns and his associates themselves'', then and there? Presumably Imhotep can't drain life force from an already-lifeless body, and they'd already proclaimed outright that stopping him is worth killing innocent people.
** Possibly they'd hoped to use Burns's group to lure Imhotep into a position where they could destroy him, or at least trap him again. If they just killed the American tomb-breakers outright, then Imhotep could potentially have gone into hiding and sought some other way to restore himself, leaving the Medjai with no leads to pursue. (They didn't yet realize that their adversary had become obsessed with Evy and would seek ''her'' out even if Burns's group were all dead.)
** And maybe they're not sociopaths who would happily kill innocent people. And what's stopping Imhotep from getting the Book of the Dead and resurrecting them just so he can take their organs?
** Ardeth and his boss straight out admitted that they фку willing to kill innocent people to stop Imhotep. "what's stopping Imhotep from getting the Book of the Dead" - presumably also them, it's their one job after all. Hide it with some crazy cat lady and her hundread cats, and we're golden.
** Killing the Americans would free Imhotep to feast on whoever was unlucky enough to be caught by him, just as he tried to do to Rick. Not the smartest thing to do when you are going inside the dark, creepy underground labyrinth to hunt for this immortal creature. By allowing the Americans to escape Homunaptra they bought some time and prevented Imhotep from powering up from snacking on Medjai themselves. Additionally, if not for Beny's aid, Imhotep may not even been able to track the group. As for why did Medjai not guard the Americans properly, it would seem that they were unaware that Imhotep left Homunaptra until after he ate Mr.Burns. Probably they guarded every entrance to the tomb, which explains why Imhotep felt the need to dig his way out of the city instead of simply walking out.
* If Medjai were aware of the Imhotep's cult working to dig him out (we see Ardeth Bey infiltrating the excavation site), why didn't they simply storm it with their huge army, kill all the cultists and prevent Imhotep's resurrection?

** Elaborating on above, given that we see Ardeth spying on the cult in Homunaptra he might have overheard the talk about having Imhotep kill the Scorpion King. As Imhotep is no longer under the Hom Dai, he was vulnerable to assassination should he succeed in killing the Scorpion King.
* Where DID Johnatan get an empty double-decker in the middle of the night?

** They only wanted to revive him when they had the bracelet too. That way, they could show off and say "look what a good job we've done getting everything ready. So when you rule the world, we'll be rewarded, right?"
** Meela/Anaksunamun also wanted to kill Evy in front of him as revenge for her sending his immortal soul to the underworld. Much easier to carry a mummy from Egypt (hide it in a suitcase, maybe? Private aeroplane?) than to drag her kicking and screaming all that way. Plus, Hafez is the curator of the British Museum, he has the resources to perform his ceremonies in a place he probably feels comfortable.

** Also, it's the British Museum. Maybe they wanted to give Imhotep a tour (to see if any of the stored/displayed relics would have some unknown magical purpose he is aware of).
** And the O'Connells were in Egypt when they dug up Imhotep, so maybe they were hoping to nab Evy there but they just got unlucky and had to do it in England.
* The three thugs that clash with the O'Connells in the beginning of "Return" seemed to come after them specifically. But they were also hired by Imhotep's cult and apparently came for the Bracelet of Anubis. So, did Hafez know that the O'Connells were searching for the Bracelet or at least that they were excavating in the exact spot where he knew the Bracelet was? If he did, why would he send only those three shmucks? It's Rick O'Connell we're talking about, the man who defeated Imhotep the last time. Also, if Hafez knew that that's where the Bracelet was, why wouldn't he procure it long before that? It IS the cornerstone of their plan, after all.

* Wait a minute... How does Imhotep get control over the 10 plagues that were set on Egypt? Didn't another God from another religion send them?
** I haven't watched it in detail in a while, but I didn't count ten, and not in the biblical order. The Plagues of Moses are 1) water into blood 2) frogs 3) lice 4) wild animals that harm livestock (probably flies) 5) dead livestock 6) boils 7) hail and fire 8) locusts 9) darkness and 10) death of the firstborns. Imhotep brings 1, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 9. Now, anything that harms livestock is devastating to the people of Egypt but not to our heroes (a cow dying is not as dramatic to an audience as FIRE FROM THE SKIES) and it would be hard to portray the death of the firstborns since, at this point, none of our characters have children. As for the God of another religion, this is also the God that the Muslims (and therefore the Medjai) believe in. The Medjai have first hand proof that the Egyptian gods exist, so it follows that to believe in Allah they must also have some kind of proof he exists too, which means Allah/YHWH/God/Whatever you want to call them is knocking about simultaneously with Anubis and Ra and they're probably ALL throwing curses at whoever is stupid enough to let Imhotep loose...
** There were secret arts known to some of the people in Egypt capable of replicating the effects of some of the plagues. In the Book of Exodus Pharaoh's chief priests and advisers were able to replicate some of the plagues, but failed when they reached the gnats. That, or God was using the plagues as a big warning sign across Egypt to let people (including the Medjai and the main characters) know Imohtep was reanimated and they needed to put him down.
** Maybe these were originally Egyptian curses, and God used them to add weight to Moses' demands. This way he would say: "You know those huge-ass curses your people are so afraid of? Yeah, my boss can do ''those''. And He doesn't even need to resurrect any dried-up mummy for that - I'll just snap my fingers, and He'll send the entire package your way. Think about that."
** There's a theory that the 12 biblical plagues correspond to forces controlled by the ancient Egyptians' twelve most revered gods, as if the Hebrews' tales really ''were'' intentionally trolling the Egyptians' beliefs. If so, Imhotep may have come by those same powers as a legitimate product of that mythos.
* Why wouldn't the Medjai kill Rick in the beginning of the first movie? It's not like they were ok with him leaving - but Ardeth Bey says: "The desert will kill him." Why is he being so sadistic all of a sudden? Medjai are, at core, good and honorable people, Bey definitely is. Surely he would see fit to cut the guy down quickly rather than letting him wither from thirst and heat, and it's not like they couldn't have run him down easily.
** That would've taken some effort, since they were atop a huge cliff and Rick was down on the desert. They would have had to either ride down to kill him with a sword, or fire an ungodly amount of bullets at him. At the very least they didn't seem to be carrying shoulder weapons, so at best they'd have had handguns which would in no way have been capable of a killshot at that distance.
** Considering Ardeth later muses about Rick’s resilience (‘This one is strong...’) and the fact that his Medjai tattoo was there in the first movie, even if no attention was brought up to it, Bey may have believed Fate was at work and he wasn’t in a position to interfere. If Rick survived and made it back to civilization, then destiny clearly demanded it; if he was sincerely going to die in the desert, then Ardeth might’ve given him a mercy bullet.
* We find out in "The Mummy Returns" that Evie was Nefertiri, daughter of Seti I, in a past life. They are identical (both being played by Rachel Weisz). Nefertiri sparred with Anck-su-namun for the entertainment of the Pharaoh and Imhotep himself, and as the Pharaoh's high priest and the Pharaoh's daughter they would have definitely known each other in some context or another. Given this, how does Imhotep not recognize her upon seeing her for the first time in "The Mummy"?

** As for all other encounters, by that time he can see that she clearly doesn't recognize him, so she is not actually Nefertiri. Him being an expert on Egyptian afterlife's workings and knowing about the 3000-something gap, he simply wasn't surprised about this particular reincarnation. He clearly wasn't surprised about Meela's. Under different circumstances he might have had a talk with Evy but resurrecting Anck-su-namun was more important.

* When the mummy of Anck-su-namun wakes up on the table near the end of the first film, there's a neat little effect where we can see the table through the holes of her eyes and mouth... Except we should see the back of her head, since her skull is intact and she has wraps and the remains of hair.
** This was either SpecialEffectsFailure, or perhaps the skull of Anuck-su-namun's mummy was damaged during excavation as mummies are fragile.

* In the first movie, Pharaoh Seti's "crown jewel" city was Thebes. However, in the prequel part of the second movie which took place a thousand years earlier, The Scorpion King (or his look-a-like grandson), destroyed Thebes using the Army of Anubis. Then, when Rick and Evie are at Thebes, ''the same fallen pillars'' are on the ground, unmoved for 5,000 years. Shouldn't have Seti have had the place cleaned up, since it was his capital city?

** Egypt is such an ancient country that its ancient ruins are built on other ancient ruins, which are built on still ''other'' ancient ruins. Possibly the fallen pillars got buried by sandstorms soon after the Army of Anubis sacked the place. Wait a few thousand years, and the wind blows the sands away to reveal what's hiding under them. This is literally what happened to structures like the Sphinx, on not one but several occasions.
* Imhotep's canopic jars which triggers his curse. Given that Imhotep was mummified alive without having his internal organs being removed (which canopic jars are used to store) what significance would those canopic jars actually have?
** Those jars are actually for Anck-su-namun's organs, not Imhotep's. They're significant because he needs them to perform the ritual to resurrect his lady.

** The Hom-Dai curse, although understood as highly dangerous and horrific, is under/overestimated by the fandom. Firstly, Imhotep was forced to remain alive, and conscious, in unimaginable pain even as his body was reduced to a "juicy" carcass. Secondly, he also had to undergo some nasty mental torture; no external stimulations and constant remainders of his past failures (failed resurrection, loyal servants gruesomely executed, betrayal of his gods...). Not to mention the fact that he had to adjust to scarabs moving inside his body while eating it (remember what just one scarab did to the warden), in complete darkness of his small coffin, all while enduring starvation, thirst and increasing lack of breathable air. It's a miracle that Imhotep somehow retained his mental faculties. On the other hand, he evidently could not free himself at all despite his powers, since even with his coffin opened he had to wait until Evy read from the book. Yes, his prison failed the test of time but in the end all that was needed to stop him is the Book of the living. If Medjai didn't forget its location (and knew how to read its spells) Imhotep's rampage would have been fairly short.

* Was Anck Su Namun cursed for killing the Pharaoh? In the original script says that the two mummies full resurrected (Imhotep and herself) would become the end of all things.
The novelization give us more information about this?

** As for all other encounters, by that time he can see that she clearly doesn't recognize him, so she is not actually Nefertiri. Him being an expert on Egyptian afterlife's workings and knowing about the 3000-something gap, he simply wasn't surprised about this particular reincarnation. He clearly wasn't surprised about Meela's. Under different circumstances he might have had a talk with Evy but resurrecting Anck-su-namun was more important.

** Because he took his eyes from a guy who was seriously nearsighted. [[WordOfGod That's the actual explanation]].